Supporting Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research and The Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Donors Charities.

Monday, 8 February 2010

The car in front is a Toyota...because its brakes are faulty and its throttle is stuck open!.

The car manufacturer Toyota has been in the news a lot recently due to a spate of accidents (some sadly fatal) and near misses involving several of its models which it appears are having problems with their brakes and accelerators.

This started to make me wonder about just how over engineered and complex some of the "basic" systems now fitted to modern cars have become.

Gone are the days when a throttle was linked to the engine via a pedal linked to a cable and attatched to the carb , now they are connected to a potentiometer in a black box, or some other weird and wonderful arrangement. Brakes,once upon a time,used to be directly connected to a piston which then (through hydraulic action achieved by the driver pressing a pedal) would apply pressure to pitons in the callipers and thus clamp the brake shoes/pads onto the disks/drums of the car. Not so now of course, now it all has to be done via a computer system to ensure "optimum performance".The question is, are car manufacturers just getting a little too clever for their own good, and are the public becoming "lab rats" to help with their research ?

As you are well aware, Scarlett (My Scirocco) is now almost 23 years old, and at this moment in time i am feeling so glad that she is not burdened with all the clutter and gizmo's that all modern cars seem to be.

I would say that given the choice of choosing a car to travel any great distance in right now, and given a choice of my old "trusty steed" or some all singing all dancing box of wires and chips set on four wheels, i know which ignition key I would be turning!.

Sometimes driving something with less is better than being let down by something with (apparently) so much more!.

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Scirocco 2 Morocco 2008.An overview of the challenge.

Hi there, my names Andy Ward,I am a Life Support Systems Medical Engineer at an NHS Hospital.....and I just happen to have Chronic Leukaemia!.

Welcome to my Blog Page which was produced to publicise a trip from the UK to North Africa that my good friend (and fellow NHS collegue) Glen and I undertook in September 2008 driving my trusty 21 year old VW Scirocco named "Scarlett" :-)

*Car and Trailer Information

1987 Scirocco Scala 1.8 Ltr Carburettor donated to me by a chap named Steve from Leicester in June 2007.

The Trailer is made from the rear end of a 1989 Scirocco GT2 which was donated by a guy from Derby in 2008.The conversion work was done by ASMech Engineering in Mansfield.

The car and Trailer were resprayed (free of charge) by AW Accident Repair Centre in Sleaford.AW also repaired the car in April-June 2008 after it received frontal damage in an accident.

The graphics for the cars first 2 missions (Roc Around the Clock in 2007 and in 2008 Scirocco 2 Morocco) were done by Lee of Custom Vinyl Graphics in Anwick. The most recent set of vinyl's have been fitted by "Biff" of PawPrint Graphics in Newark.

Wheels for the Scirocco 50LLR Project have been sorted by John Leeson of WheelCraft in Heckington with some support from Kumho Tyres and Team Dynamics Alloys.

The donation of a set of 4 new tyres plus invaluable assistance keeping the Scirocco on the road for the last 3 years has been down to the amazing support of PITSTOP GARAGE in Sleaford.Thanks to all of you :-)

The Design for the Scirocco 50 LLR Project was devised by Benn Perry of West Nottinghamshire College.

Since our return from the trip, during which we managed to almost get to Morocco (Ended up finishing in Gibraltar due to ferry costs!), I am now using this blog to promote the task of recruiting people to the bone marrow and cord blood registers and also to report news about Leukaemia and Lymphoma issue's, with the occasional "off topic" section just to keep you interested!.It's great to be able to raise money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research and the Anthony Nolan Trust, but at the end of the day money is not enough.We need to dispel the myths and misconceptions about donating bone marrow and cord blood so that more people will sign up to give "The gift of life".

Thanks.Andy :-)

(NB.The views held within this blog are my own, and do not in any way reflect the opinions or legislation of my employers or other agencies mentioned within it's text)

If you feel that you can offer help,support or sponsorship to our cause,then please feel free to contact me at this email address: